from the National Fish Habitat Partnership's 2015 Through a Fish's Eye Report
Summary
Data on stream fishes were provided for use in the 2015 assessment by the Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources. Data were collected from 1992 to 2010, and assemblages were sampled using standardized visual surveys (Higashi and Nishimoto 2007). Fish data indicated presence or absence of nine native taxa in stream reaches including five fluvial fish species, two shrimp species, a gastropod, and two species of native flagtails (treated as a single taxonomic group analytically) that periodically enter the stream from the nearshore coastal environment (Table 6). Fish presence-absence data were available for 403 perennial stream reaches throughout the five main Hawaiian Islands. Many different human landscape factors were assembled and [...]
Summary
Data on stream fishes were provided for use in the 2015 assessment by the Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources. Data were collected from 1992 to 2010, and assemblages were sampled using standardized visual surveys (Higashi and Nishimoto 2007). Fish data indicated presence or absence of nine native taxa in stream reaches including five fluvial fish species, two shrimp species, a gastropod, and two species of native flagtails (treated as a single taxonomic group analytically) that periodically enter the stream from the nearshore coastal environment (Table 6). Fish presence-absence data were available for 403 perennial stream reaches throughout the five main Hawaiian Islands.
Many different human landscape factors were assembled and used to characterize condition of habitat (Table 7). Factors include: urban and agricultural land use; density of point sources of pollution in catchments; measures of stream network fragmentation, including fragmentation by dams, roads and ditches; and locations of former plantation lands. Former plantation lands are an acknowledged threat to stream habitat as indicated by the Hawaii Fish Habitat Partnership (HFHP) due to the potential for some of these lands to leach excess nutrients or pesticides into receiving water bodies. Some important threats to fish and fish habitat could not be incorporated into the assessment due to data limitations, including stream-reach specific effects of the magnitude of water withdrawals and diversions, as well as threats from both invasive animal and plant species. Based on these and other missing factors, 2015 habitat condition scores may underestimate the true amount of disturbance to a given stream habitat in some areas.
The U.S Geological Survey (USGS) is partnering with the National Fish Habitat Partnership (NFHP) to produce the 2015 report entitled, "Through a Fish's Eye: The Status of Fish Habitats in the United States 2015". The information contained within this item is a product of NFHP. The Bureau is neither responsible nor liable for the accuracy or the use of the scientific content within this item. This content is considered preliminary pending subsequent review and approval.
